The Pool
by user89976
Summary: Aaron gives Juliette swimming lessons and they both get an unexpected surprise.


AN/ Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic so I hope y'all like it! I loved writing it and I would love to write more! I don't own any of these characters and give full credit to the genius Tahereh Mafi!

I never had any reason to learn to swim.

I didn't even know there were pools anymore. There were no pools when I was growing up and obviously not in the asylum. I felt no need to learn when I arrived at Sector 45's political headquarters, and I didn't even know the base had a pool. But Kenji mentioned to Aaron I had no idea how to swim after we defeated Anderson. I guess it never crossed my mind as something I wanted to do, but Aaron thought it was important I learned. He even said he would teach me himself.

Of course, he's good at swimming. He's good at everything.

And so here I am, clutching a towel to my chest. I feel so exposed. Alia made me a gorgeous navy blue bikini that hugs my body perfectly, but I feel more exposed than ever before. I don't know why I'm so nervous.

The Supreme Commander shouldn't be afraid of a little water, right?

Then why won't my hands stop shaking?

Aaron is floating lazily on his back, waiting for me to join him, but I'm frozen in place, thinking of everything that could go wrong. He peeks at me and sees I'm still gripping the towel to my body for dear life. I see him try to suppress a smile and fail. My cheeks enflame.

"What's wrong, love?" he asks, still smiling.

I look down at my feet, feeling silly, and shrug.

"You'll be fine. Just get in." He's ushering me into the water and I take a deep breath. After I throw my towel on a nearby chair, I hug my arms around my body. Aaron is gapping at me, his mouth open and his eyes wide. His lips form words, but no sound comes out. I smile, just a little, feeling better.

"How am I supposed to teach you anything when you look like that?" He says, swimming over to the steps and holding out his hands, but I don't take them.

"What if I drown?" I ask, not really believing it's even probable.

He actually laughs out loud and I feel my cheeks redden again. "Do you really think I would let that happen?" He pauses, waiting for my answer. I only shake my head in response. "I'll be here the whole time."

I meet his eyes. "But what if you can't absorb my power in the water or something like that?"

He steps out of the water and I'm staring at my feet like they're the most interesting things in the world. I feel his hands on my arms and he tilts my chin up to face him. "Don't be ridiculous, love. it's okay to be frightened, but let that fear push you, not hold you back. You can lead armies. You are fearless. This will be easy for you, I promise. You won't even need my help."

Water is dripping down his arms, and down his body, and down his abs, and I can't focus. He wraps me in a hug and I press my cheek against his chest and take a deep breath. "Besides," he whispers in my ear, "I seem to be able to touch you just fine in the shower."

I push away from him, gasping and embarrassed. "That's not funny," I say crossing my arms, my whole body turning red.

His shoulders are shaking from his laughter. "You're right. I'm sorry, sweetheart," he says still laughing. He reaches for my hand and leads me gently into the water. I follow him, mumbling "Why am I even doing this?" as the cold water reaches my calves. He kisses my cheek in response and pulls me deeper into the water.

The water is up to my waist. No one else is in the indoor pool but us, busy with their daily activities. I'm grateful Aaron made time for me today. We're so busy sometimes we don't see each other until late at night. His eyes are watching me carefully like he's afraid I'm just going to jump out of the water and run and hide.

I'm seriously considering it at the moment.

The water almost covers my arms now. God, why am I so short? The water is barely up to Aaron's elbows. His hand is on my back when he says, "Lie back, love."

I look at him like he's just grown three heads. "Don't worry," he reassures me. "You'll float."

I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't know why I'm doing this, I repeat over and over again in my head as I ease onto my back. My eyes are squeezed shut and I can feel his hands on my back. We stay like this for a while, me floating over the water and him holding me up.

Then there's only one hand on my back.

Then no hands.

Then I'm floating.

My eyes open in awe as if I really believed I would sink to the bottom. Aaron is standing far enough away that I know I'm on my own, but he's close enough for me to reach out and touch him. I smile widely at him and he smiles back.

"Very good," he says, taking a few steps back. "Now swim to me."

I stand up in shock, having to stand on my tiptoes because my feet barely touch the bottom. "I..." I look down at my hands. "I don't how."

"I know, sweetheart. But you can do this. I know you can. Just move your arms like this," he shows me some strange motion where he pulls his arms over his head and they move down to his waist one at a time in graceful motions. "Rotate your shoulders and kick your legs. I'll be here the whole time."

I take a deep breath and nod. I try to mimic his motions, but my arms feel weak and awkward. Before I know it, I'm in his arms and I'm smiling. Smiling like an idiot. Because even though it wasn't perfect, I did it.

He's smiling at me, too. A proud smile. He kisses me softly before letting me go and taking a few more steps back, this distance significantly longer than the next one. "Very good, love. Now try putting your head underwater and swimming to me." My heart speeds up, and I know he can sense my fear. "I know it's a lot to learn, but you can do this, sweetheart. I promise." His belief in me gives me strength and I nod.

I can do this.

I place my head underwater and kick my legs, trying again to mimic his motions. My arms don't feel as awkward, and I feel my shoulder rotating on their own, just like he told me to. When I've reached him again, he's beaming at me. "What?" I ask, having to kick my legs to keep myself afloat. He wraps his arms around me to steady me.

"You just freestyled," he tells me.

"I what?"

"Freestyle. It's a very simple stroke, one of the first I learned, and you just did it all by yourself. I told you, you didn't need my help, love." I can't help but smile as he speaks. He looks so proud, but not surprised like he knew I could do it. He pushes himself even farther away, all the way to the end of the pool. I didn't even realize how big and how deep the pool was until now. The water is so deep that he can't even stand. "This time, work on your stroke. When you need to breathe, tilt your head to the side, but keep your ear on your arm. Don't try and go fast, just glide."

I put my head underwater and swim, forgetting I was ever afraid of the water. It's actually quite fun. My arms do what they're supposed to without much thought from me and my legs kick easily. Just when I feel like my lungs are running out of oxygen, I tilt my head to the side and take a big gulp of air. Then suddenly, I swim right into him.

He pulls me into him and my legs wrap around his waist. He's moved to where he can stand and he holds me close to him, my arms wrapping around his neck. My hair is soaked, and he pushes it gently off my face as he presses his lips softly to mine. "I'm," he says in between kisses. "So." Another kiss. "Proud." Another. "Of." Another. "You."

"Thank you," I say, gazing into his beautiful green eyes. "Thank you, thank you."

"No need to thank me, love," he says, his hand gently grazing my cheek, sending shivers down my spine. "You could have done it all by yourself."

"No," I say, shaking my head. "I couldn't have done it without you, Aaron."

He smiles and shakes his head. "I still love the way you say my name."

He kisses me again, still soft and gentle. Then the kiss deepens into something more passionate. Hungrier. My hands trail up and down his bare back and his tongue explores my mouth. He backs me up to the side of the pool and his lips move down to my neck. My eyes are closed and my head rolls on my shoulders, my hands grasped tightly in his hair.

He knows exactly where to kiss me to drive me crazy.

His lips move down my body and he lifts me farther out of the water. My lips part for no reason and he's about to pull the string keeping this tiny piece of clothing on my body when-

"Ahh! Avert your eyes, James! You two are sooooo gross! This is a _public_ pool!"

Kenji. Aaron's eyes flame from being interrupted and I slide down his body, my legs still around his waist. I can tell he's about to turn and yell at Kenji to get out when he rips his shirt off and dives in, swimming over to us.

"I'm assuming swimming lessons went well?" He asks, accusingly, his eyebrows raised.

Aaron turns to him and opens his mouth to say something when I laugh and kiss him on the cheek. "Yeah, they did," I say turning to Kenji. "I learned how to freestyle."

"Way to go, J!" He says, giving me an enthusiastic high five. "And I must say you look smoking hot in that bathing suit."

I laugh, knowing he's joking, but Aaron fumes. "Kishimoto, I swear I'm-" Before he can even say a full sentence, everyone comes rushing in. Lily throws James, who's wearing floaties around his arms, into the pool before jumping in after him. She looks stunning in her yellow bikini. "You look cute," she says, winking at me.

I smile in return and soon Sonya, Sara, Castle, and Winston join us in the water. "Kenji told us there was a pool party," Winston says smiling. "We couldn't pass it up," the twins say together.

Adam and Alia come strolling in, holding hands. They wave at all of us before sitting on two pool chairs. I smile back because even though Adam and I grew apart, I'm happy he's happy. James is paddling in circles and Brendan is starring at the edge of the water. "Come on, Brendan," Lily says smiling. "Get in, just don't electrocute us all." Everyone laughs, including Brendan, and he dives in.

Aaron is the only one not laughing or smiling. "We'll finish later," I whisper in his ear. I kiss him one more time before detaching myself from him and swimming over to the girls. I glance at him one more time and he's smiling and no longer looks like he wants to kill Kenji.

And I'm overwhelmed with happiness. Because we get a lifetime of this. No more hiding, a little more fighting, but we're ready.

We're ready for whatever.


End file.
